The Tragedy of Estelle
by PenAndInkPrincess
Summary: What's up with this woman, Estelle? Note: This will only make sense when you read "Drosselmeyer's Return."


**This goes with my story "Drosselmeyer's Return." This is Estelle's backstory…enjoy!**

Estelle was a simple woman, with simple tastes, who found joy in the simplest of things. For example, she prided herself on her roses, which were the most fragrant and ravishing blooms anywhere. She spent days in her maidenhood pressing the blossoms to her face, inhaling their intoxicating aroma.

Not only was Estelle excellent at the domestic arts, she was a ravishing beauty in her time. Her eyes were as green as emeralds, and her hair a rich, deep auburn. It was in the full bloom of womanhood that she met her husband, Reynaldo. The tall man with deep blue eyes and curly black hair was instantly in love with her. She reciprocated his feelings, and theirs was a courtship of abounding affection.

So imagine her delight when the man of her heart asked her to be his wife. Preparations were immediately set in place, and the day of their matrimony was a day of sunshine and spring flowers. Estelle carried a bouquet of her finest roses, and everyone smiled at the couple, who was destined for eternal happiness.

The day after their wedding night, however, Reynaldo revealed to Estelle that he had been drafted for the army. She cried, and he told her that he had not wanted to ruin their wedding day with such horrible news, but he would be leaving that very day.

As he walked out of the house, he gathered his young bride in his arms, and kissed her sweetly. Gazing into her teary green eyes he said, "Don't fear my love. I'll always be with you. I'll come home."

Estelle waited and waited, and after two weeks, she received a letter. Despite all of the fancy words and phrases, the message was clear: Reynaldo was dead.

The broken woman took to her bed. The doctors all said that she was suffering a broken heart. Estelle's cherished roses withered in their flower beds even though for the rest of the month it rained, as though reflecting Estelle's despairing mood. She had lost the only man she ever loved.

Soon after though, she discovered Reynaldo's final gift. Estelle was pregnant with Reynaldo's child. She decided then and there that she had to live; she had to fight to make the child's life as happy as possible. And above all, she had to protect the last trace of the love she had shared with Reynaldo.

After a long, difficult birth, a baby girl, small and weak, was delivered. A fine cap of red hair covered the babe's head, and when she blinked up at her mother, Estelle's heart leapt with joy that the girl had inherited the same deep blue eyes as her father. She named the child Carlotta, which was what Reynaldo had always said he would name a daughter if they had one.

Estelle was granted 12 years with her daughter. But the girl was small and frail, and prone to sickness. One winter, Carlotta's fragile health deteriorated completely. The torn Estelle had to watch in anguish as her only child wasted away in front of her eyes; she was powerless to stop her daughter's gradual departure from the world of the living. One night, as the wind howled outside the windows, Carlotta's fever climbed higher and higher, refusing to abate and grant the girl a fighting chance.

"Mother…I'm dying, aren't I?"

"No, no! Don't say that, my rose, my sweet pea, my darling. Don't say things like that to Mumsy!" Estelle's words were beseeching, and she was frantic to lower the girl's fever. Tears streamed down the mother's face in great torrents, her heart shattering at her daughter's words.

"Mother. Don't cry," Carlotta reached out a shaking hand in an attempt to wipe at the tears her mother was crying. Instead, the girl's hand flopped back down to the quilt, her strength too diminished to even accomplish such a rudimentary task. Giving Estelle a weak smile she continued, "Mother…I know I'm dying. It's just my time. I love you, Mother. I'm sorry to leave you, but it's time for me to go."

With that, Carlotta passed over into the world of the dead. Estelle released tormented howls of sorrow more akin to wild beasts than mankind.

When neighbors came to find what had made such disturbing noises, they found Estelle clutching the cold corpse of her only daughter, the last reminder of the love she had shared with Reynaldo.

**Okay *sniff sniff* that's it. So…you now know why Ahiru is being called Carlotta. Estelle refuses to believe that Carlotta is dead, and so she's treating Ahiru as a replacement. Now…please continue reading "Drosselmeyer's Return." Please and thank you! :D **


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